It was shown previously that two-dimensional incompressible, inviscid, and irrotational flow can be described by the
velocity potential, φ, or
stream function, ψ, using the Laplace's equation:

In the following sections, some simple plane potential flows (e.g., uniform flow, source and sink, vortex and doublet) will be introduced. Also, since Laplace's equation is linear, various solutions can be combined to form other solutions. Therefore, some of the real flow problems (e.g., half-body) are obtained by combining these simple plane potential flows using the method of superposition.

Normally, the stream function and/or velocity potential equation (Laplace's Equation) is solved easily using finite difference methods or finite element methods. An example of this is given in the graphic.

Uniform flow is the simplest form of potential flow. For flow in
a specific direction, the velocity potential is

φ = U (x cosα + y sinα)

while the stream function is

ψ = U (y cosα - x sinα)

where α represents the angle between the flow direction and the x-axis (as shown in the figure). Recall that the
velocity potential and
stream function are related to the component velocity in the 2 dimensional
flow field as follows:

Cartesian coordinates:

and

Cylindrical coordinates:

and

Note that the lines of the constant velocity potential (equipotential
lines) are orthogonal to the lines of the stream function (streamlines).

When a fluid flows radially outward from a point source, the
velocities are

vr = m / (2πr) and vθ = 0

where m is the volume flow rate from the
line source per unit length. The velocity potential and stream function
can then be represented as

respectively. When m is
negative, the flow is inward, and it represents a sink. The volume
flow rate per unit depth, m, indicates the strength of the
source or sink. Note that as r approaches zero, the radial velocity goes
to infinity. Hence, the origin represents a singularity. As shown
in the figure, the equipotential lines are given by the concentric circles
while the streamlines are the radial lines.

By combining a source and a sink of equal strength using the method
of superposition, the stream function is given by

ψ = ψsource + ψsink = -(m/2π) (θ1 - θ2)

Through considerable manipulation (i.e., geometric relationships and
trigonometric identities), the above equation can be rewritten as

For small values of a gives,

A doublet is obtained by letting the distance between the source and sink
approach zero (i.e., distance "a" tends to zero) which means r/(r2 - a2) -> 1/r. The stream function for
a doublet then becomes

ψ = -Ksinθ/r

where K is a constand equal to ma/π, and is called the strength of the doublet.
The streamlines of a typical doublet are shown in the figure. The corresponding velocity potential is

φ = Kcosθ/r

For simplicity, the details of the velocity potential derivation are not given here.
Students are encouraged to go through the above derivation process themselves
for practice.

Flow around a half-body can be obtained by the superposition of a uniform
flow with a source. The combined stream function is given by

ψ = ψuniform
flow + ψsource =
U r sinθ + (m/2π) θ

and the corresponding velocity potential is

φ = φuniform
flow + φsource = U r cosθ +
(m/2π)
ln(r)

The velocity components are given by

Flow
Past a Oval-type Body

It is interesting to note, the streamlines of this combined function can be used to represent a oval-like shape in a flow stream. The stagnation point of the flow can be used to define the half-bodyshape. The location of the stagnation point can be determined by setting vr and vθ equal to zero, yielding

θ = π and rstagnation = b = m/2πU

The streamline that passes through the stagnation point is then obtained
as

ψstagnation =
m/2 = πbU

By replacing this streamline with a solid boundary, one can then clearly see that flow around a half-body can indeed be represented by the superposition of a uniform flow with a source. The magnitude of the resultant velocity, V, at any point of the flow field is given by

The shape of the top or bottom half-body is found by putting ψstagnation value back into the stream function where θ = π. This gives,